GOTHIC MODEL TRIO, l-r: Ryo Love, Harlot Rouge and Sophia Shmigol (photos: Gothic Image)
Your own sense of your style
Tony: Looking back over the 17 years of imagery represented on your Gothic Image relaunch site, I agree with the friend of yours who described your work as elegant. ‘Careful attention to detail’ is another phrase that comes to my mind, along with pictures that suggest a narrative, and also a taste for elements of humour, irony or something ‘unexpected’.
I also think you have a true fashion and portrait photographer’s eye. And you clearly understand the importance of hair and make-up, which are afterthoughts in a lot of fetish photography. How do these observations chime with how you see your work yourself?
Andy: That’s not easy to answer because to me these things ‘just happen’ without me consciously thinking about them.
Yes, I appreciate attention to detail, which is probably linked to my choice of equipment and preference for shooting tethered to a laptop. That extends to attention to hair and make-up, but the most important thing is the model herself.
Other than events, I prefer to work with models I know and who share my approach. It’s always a partnership and the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. We’ll work together and quite often what we end up with isn’t what we started with, but it’ll definitely be better.
One thing that sticks in my mind is the 2010 shoot with Sophie in an old boiler house. She rang me up saying, “Can we please do a shoot? I’ve been doing a lot of fashion shoots and I’m fed up with being told exactly how to hold my arms and legs. I want to be part of the shoot!”
Organising a shoot
Tony: When you organise shoots, do you always approach them already having strong ideas about what you’re looking to get out of them? Do you ever just set everything up for a shoot and then ‘see what happens’?
Andy: My approach is usually to come with an idea (preferably the more bonkers the better) and select a model and surroundings to suit. That’s why my images quite often seem to tell a story, as you implied earlier.
In some ways I’m almost more of a project manager than photographer; the pressing-the-button bit only occurs right at the end of the process. As I’ve said, I prefer to shoot models who understand my approach, people such as ShadowJen, Harlot Rouge, Sophie, Lydia, Roswell Ivory, Mam’zelle Maz and latterly Siren and Sinopa Rin.
That said, on occasions I like to challenge myself by just ‘busking it’. It’s a bit out of my comfort zone so keeps me on my toes. I did one a couple of weeks ago with a model I hadn’t shot or even met before and luckily we’re both really pleased with the results.
The year of the model
Tony: From the new galleries in the Gothic Image relaunch, one gets the impression that certain years rather ‘belonged’ to certain models. For example, 2006 looks to have been a particularly good year for Harlot Rouge. Were such things ever planned?
Andy: There were certainly years that stand out that way, although not for any reason other than a serendipitous combination of ideas and suitable model. Harlot Rouge came to stay on a couple of weekends in 2006 which of course helped to increase the volume of shoots, as did ShadowJen and Lydia in other years.
My other car is a self-propelled gun
Tony: A few of your images feature military vehicles and I happen to know you’re the proud owner of an ex-Army self-propelled gun. You’ve also used various ex-military locations for shoots, including one legendary time in the tunnels deep under Fort Southwick on Portsdown Hill, where the D-Day invasion planning was done.
Andy: Yes indeed, my other hobby is restoring cold war military vehicles, including an FV433 Abbot self-propelled gun. It’s similar to the one in the 2007 ‘Pink Tank’ photos with Harlot Rouge, but mine is suitably green.
I’m not sure if the 2008 Fort Southwick shoot is legendary or infamous — it’s probably my one real failure over the years. I’d completely failed to appreciate just how cold it was underground, even in July.
Sophie, the model, was a real trouper, but if you look closely at the photos, you can see she wasn’t happy. She did forgive me though, because she said ‘yes’ the next time I asked her for a shoot!
Memorable fetish events
Tony: Having reviewed your archives for the Gothic Image relaunch, what are the most memorable events you’ve photographed over the years, and what made them so for you?
Andy: The highlights have to be the two Barbican Xpos and Passion in Earls Court, which was organised by the same people. They were enormous events in terms of organisation and execution and it showed.
I was running runway and backstage studio shoots for both, staying in local hotels overnight. They were little worlds of their own and I doubt we’ll ever see anything like them again.
Taking over Earls Court 2 for a fetish event? I’m afraid after that, anything else would probably seem like an anticlimax, but never say never.
Documenting Le Boutique Bazaar
Tony: Since 2014 you’ve been very closely associated with Le Boutique Bazaar’s London pop-up shopping afternoons. The pictures from your studios at LBB’s McQueen, Ministry of Sound and For Your Eyes Only venues are an important record of a unique event that will hopefully resume at some point. What makes this gig so attractive for you?
Andy: There’s an atmosphere to LBB that’s like a family. You can pitch up and be greeted as an old friend, carrying on a conversation that you started three months previously.
From a photographic perspective there are guaranteed quality models and outfits, some of which can even be outdone by the visitors, who have long since worked out that turning up in something interesting will get their photo taken and included on the LBB Facebook page.
Libidex and other labels
Tony: You once shot an entire latex collection for Libidex, which produced some iconic images that have been included with this article. What was that experience like? It must have been a lot of work given how big their collections are.
Andy: Yes, it was a lot of work, especially because with multiple models they get time to rest between outfit changes, but there’s only one photographer who just keeps going. I also had to keep an eye on the quality of the output — there wasn’t time for re-shoots.
I had a lot of fun though, and even managed some (semi) organised out-takes. I’m pleased to see that some of my shots are still on the Libidex website even now.
Would I shoot another catalogue? Probably not in a studio, but I’d be happy to do a location fashion shoot, all other things being equal. I’m not going to mention any specific designers though, or I’ll get shot by the others!
Spreading your wings?
Tony: The Gothic Image relaunch site includes some ambitious new shoots that have produced a range of images from fetish and goth to what one might call mainstream fashion. Do these recent shoots represent a new direction you see yourself continuing to follow (when next possible), or more of a general expansion of your creative palette? And do you have any post-Covid shoot plans you can mention?
Andy: I was shooting in Tuscany last year, then Venice and Portugal earlier this year until Covid stopped play. I don’t think there was any conscious decision to do something different, just a continued interest in trying out new ideas, whatever they might be.
I’d like to go back to Venice and in fact had originally intended to do so in September. I’ve some other ideas up my sleeve too, but they’re all currently on hold for obvious reasons.
gothic-image.com
(This is the permanent URL for the new Gothic Image site, replacing earlier “.co.uk” version)
BELOW: Selections from Gothic Image relaunch website galleries, years 2014-2017 and 2018-2020.
CLICK/TAP on a preview below to open its gallery, then click/tap any thumbnail to start slideshow
‘I prefer to shoot models who understand my approach. In some ways I’m almost more of a project manager than photographer; the pressing-the-button bit only occurs right at the end of the process’ Andy, Gothic Image
Tags: Fetish Photography, Gothic Style, Models, Photographers, Websites
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